KARACHI: With inflation skyrocketing, there are also more and more philanthropists stepping forward to ease the burden of the poor and help in kind during Ramazan, the month of blessings. And to facilitate them here are the NGOs providing them with the platforms to be able to do so. Business owners, restaurant owners, celebrities and anyone looking to donate zakat have been making their way to prominent NGOs such as the Jaffriya Disaster Management Cell (JDC) Foundation and Saylani Welfare Trust and others like them to distribute their donations among the needy.
These days, they are not just distributing food packets or offering items at Iftar, they are also organising lavish Sehris at their various centres all over the city, though the largest of these happen to be right in the heart of Karachi near the mausoleum of the Quaid-i-Azam at Numaish traffic intersection.
Moving away from the normal things one has for Sehri such as egg, paratha, yogurt and tea, the idea behind the Sehris organised by the JDC Foundation is to offer the common person what he or she cannot afford to eat normally.
Someday you’ll find ostrich being served, someday yak meat or biryani and pulao served with barbeque tikka, kebabs, chullu kebab, fish, prawns, steamed and fried chargha, pheasant, etc. Plus there are always thousands of cauldrons of biryani, pulao and zarda being unloaded off trucks. And to wash all that down there are chilled cold drinks and juices in cans and bottles.
According to JDC secretary general Zafar Abbas, their roadside Sehris and Iftaris are the biggest in the city.
“There is no concept of race, class or religion here. Everyone is welcome. We have unrolled carpets for them to sit on, we have lit the paths for them with hundreds of lights. We have brought back the hustle and bustle of the city to our gatherings where everyone is treated like a special guest. Everyone is expected to eat to one’s heart’s content and return home on a full tummy,” he said.
Right next to JDC at Numaish, you find the next biggest crowd gathering at Saylani.
The people start coming much ahead of Sehri time there. They come around midnight for the ration bags, too. Women and children come and chill in the open with a nice evening breeze blowing as the heavy traffic rush around the busy area fizzles out.
The many Saylani cooks and volunteers, meanwhile, make preparations for Sehri. Ahmar, who has a daytime job at the Sindh High Court, is busy chopping vegetables for omelette to feed 500 persons at a time. Shakiluddin and Sulaiman Qureshi are making preparations to receive thousands of guests in a couple of hours.
“We usually receive some 3,000 persons for Sehri on average here so we get busy getting things ready much before that,” Shakiluddin told Dawn during a recent visit.
Saylani’s usual Sehri menu includes their famous mutton korma along with maghaz karhai, barbeque tikka and omelette to have with paratha.
They also have sweet dishes such as kheer and vermicelli.
“We also have tea and coffee on alternate days,” said Sulaiman Qureshi. “And you don’t just see the poor and needy coming here to have their fill. We also get many people coming here in their personal cars to have Sehri. We are under orders by the Saylani management to treat all with equal respect and to serve all,” he added.
Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2022